How do you guys do it, OK im in a PvE setup, that does not mean that i do not have gear, weps, spells to dispatch an invader, but once that message for invasion pops up, Im frantically trying to get my armor, weapon, rings, catalysts all set for the encounter, this takes time, usually enough time for the invader to kill me where im standing, so how do you guys do it? constantly wear your pvp gear and or play a separate game strictly for pvp? or are there suggestion that you may have that make all the changing go quicker?

I dont change, just try my best in whatever i am wearing. Which is usually not enough...

If you have dudes invading, chances are they are built in a way solely for pvp. I've gotten lucky a few times, but more often than not it's hard to counter invaders if you aren't actively ready for them.

I PVE in my PVP gear...usually it's a ring or shield I need to change at the most. Just keep your PVP gear close at hand.

I usually end up switching shields during the bow anyway based on a look at the invader or the buff they use.

I generally beat most PvP invaders unless I'm surrounded by enemies attacking me too. I don't think there are really pve builds that don't also work well in pvp, unless your rockin a mage.

uh huh try on a couple homing crystal soul masses followed by a crystal soul spear by a mage thats in chameleon or hidden body,, someone will be rocked but it wont be that particular mage.

What is your Soul Level and where are you getting invaded? Depending on your level and location you might be in an area that has high traffic invasions. I played the game up to NG++ (to get all the achievements) and I was always rocking my Havel legs and gauntlets with black knight armor and the crown of dusk (flip ring and havel ring). I use a maxed lightning uchi with maxed pyromancy. Invasions stopped being an issue at the end of my first play through at level 60 because I spent around 100 matches learning how to fight in the Kiln. You'll mostly lose in the beginning, but after 30 or so matches you might start winning.

Your problem is that you are not used to fighting invaders so you panic, which is understandable. The only way to learn how to fight different builds/weapons/magic is to encounter them. Unfortunately, invaders are probably used to fighting so they'll always have the upper hand. If you have access to Anor Londo I suggest going to the outside staircase that leads to the boss fight and practice fighting people there (invade or get summoned). You can simply warp to darkmoon tomb and take the elevator up. The people who PVP there will be tougher than any random invador so it's the best place to learn aside from the Kiln.

@golguin: ive actually gotten used to it now at first all my invaders are typical melee dex build, very hard to defend when im a offensive caster, so ive always now got up great combustion and soul spear, when i see the sign i put the poise wolf ring on and +10 eagle shield and Ive actually beaten my invaders 3 times in a row, i got frustrated in darkroot garden where there forest covenant is. but now as an offense caster i feel like i gained some ground on alot of that builds disadvantages to pvp

As someone who has put alot of hours into the game, but still get effed up any time someone invades, I have a question. I will often get backstabbed even though, at least on my screen, my attacker is only slightly to the side or right in front of me. Is this because of latency, or is there some kind of technique employed that I just don't know about?

Become a Gravelord. That way, you get to choose when you want to PvP or not.

PvP in Dark Souls is really balanced in that if you know how to play it doesn't matter what you're wearing really.

That being said I just wear what I wear and what happens happens. It's all in good fun anyways =)

I clearly don't know much about this game. What constitutes PVP gear that differentiates it from PVE?

I'm always in my PVP gear, it's always more than enough for PVE, even optimal. I guess the only way it wouldn't be is if you're a straight up magic user. In that case, it usually won't matter, just try and get to an accessible place to die from. Take your licks, and move on

@CornBREDX: Im going to now agree to this statement, pvp is working like it should, i can avoid a backstab, sometimes, sometimes i get rocked by one, but my recent successes with a really challenging pvp build (no str, end, dex, vitality) i have come to realize that strategy is key and blaming lag about an untimely backstab, well call your isp, or your hosts, otherwise learn the ropes and get killed or kill, one or the other is going to happen.

@wmaustin55: Magic users if using proper strat, will wipe the floor on invaders, don't know what youve faced as your melee build, but ive learned how to best melee skills, its called full +5 ascended pyro , great combustion, soul spear and crystal homing mass. mostly all unavoidable, and youve got to have high magic and flame resistance, with my wolf ring and 75 stability +10 eagle sheild its actually hard to damage me unless you do excuse that "lag" backstab" which is still in hypothesis stage.

@Scrawnto said:

I clearly don't know much about this game. What constitutes PVP gear that differentiates it from PVE?

Most (really good) PvP players rely heavily on melee and use only a handful of spells. Great Combustion, Crystal Soul Spear, Wrath of God (though some would argue against wog) etc. If you PvP long enough you learn how to time the magic attacks and can avoid them a good 90% of the time. I usually only die from magic when I'm fighting two or three at a time and it's usually because my stamina ran out and I can't get out of the way, or I just got caught. Happens.

High poise is also another thing that isn't really necessary in PvE, but could get you killed pretty quickly in PvP when your opponent stunlocks you with a Black Knight Greataxe (good tip: when you get stunlocked switch to your other weapon. If timed right it could break the stunlock). Some gear, like Havels and fully upgraded Giant's Armor give you a good amount of poise. Players who do nothing but fish for backstabs usually keep their poise high so they can walk through your attack and get the backstab. Other items like Wolf/Hornet ring are generally best for PvP, though I personally don't use them (a lot of tournaments ban them). For PvE however, magic is amazing and you'll coast through most of the game without a problem. That's really the only major difference. Magic builds if done right can be the best of both worlds because there are some really good melee weapons that scale well to a high Intelligence. Moonlight Greatsword, for example.

@Gazel_Ministry: Most tournaments ban backstabs and parrys now haha

@UdderDischarge said:

@wmaustin55: Magic users if using proper strat, will wipe the floor on invaders, don't know what youve faced as your melee build, but ive learned how to best melee skills, its called full +5 ascended pyro , great combustion, soul spear and crystal homing mass. mostly all unavoidable, and youve got to have high magic and flame resistance, with my wolf ring and 75 stability +10 eagle sheild its actually hard to damage me unless you do excuse that "lag" backstab" which is still in hypothesis stage.

I would disagree with magic being unavoidable. The majority of magic in the game opens you up to attacks with the exception of wotg. Aside from that spell all offensive magic is very easy to dodge. Just roll to the sides when the spell is casting or roll forward to punish the user. WotG requires a bit of timing to dodge and I'll only get hit by it if I'm caught in an attack animation.

I'm still surprised that I constantly hit people with Chaos Firestorm though it mostly happens when people rush me on 2v1 or 3v1. Only bad players get hit by magic on any kind of consistent basis. Accidents happen, but you shouldn't be getting hit by any magic.

Personally, I always get smoked when I'm invaded. Twice now a recently new character build I've been invaded by players with insane gear. They may be within the SL limit, but I swear they must be near the end of the game with the stuff that I am getting killed with.

@fini_fly: It's possible that you're being invaded by people who're using the bottomless box glitch to give their new characters all the gear from their previous characters. Hence the insane gear but still within the SL limit. It's just a possibility though.

Turn into a tree in the forest. Then go to work.

@eroticfishcake: I actually was looking up the BB glitch after I posted my first message. Honestly, the glitch is a little bit disappointing because I loved getting invaded in Demon's Souls because the battles were generally pretty epic. Now I just stay hollow because it's not worth my time to deal with being invaded. Only once have I been invaded by someone on par with my character, but I still died because of lag followed by being back stabbed.

You´re just bad, a lot of people can PVP without armor and/or rings, just their upgraded weapon. That´s what I don´t really get, why are people so worried about equipment, magic, and other stuff when the game is all about how skilled you are with the mechanics?

@fini_fly: Yeah the PvP is pretty good when it works but most of the time it's mostly just twinks, backstabbers and bad lag. Having said that, there's some good dueling areas like the Kiln. I'm quite excited for the DLC though since there's meant to be a proper PvP arena there. Not sure how it'll work but either way it'll be interesting. I actually spend most of my time looking at PvP videos on YouTube. Japanese ones are the best since they don't take it terribly seriously. On a somewhat unrelated note...